Issue 001, Saoirse: Irish Freedom (May, 1987)

              saoi irish freedom uimh 1 bealtaine — may 1987 20p vote no in a speech to the delegates at the establishment of comhairle na mumhan in limerick on may 3 last ruairi 6 bradaigh urlabhrai put the republican sinn fein case for a no vote in the upcoming 26 county referendum the single european act further diminishes the sovereignty of the irish people and impinges on their control of their own affairs which is necessary in order to develop the country and provide employment for its people this was a logical follow up he said to the sinn fein compaigns against full membership of the e.e.c in the 26 counties in 1972 and in the six counties in 1975 the alternative proposed by republicans was to urge a trade agreement with that body or associate membership the s.e.a seeks to amend the original treaty of rome and enmesh us further in the e.e.c reason and historical experience indicate the impossibility of an underdeveloped country like ireland thriving in the face of the full forces of a free market in this case one dominated by the former colonial powers of europe jobs at home and markets in europe was the slogan in 1972 of those advocating full e.e.c membership in the outcome the home market was opened up and the jobs destroyed farming interests will be affected by the s.e.a proposals to increase the powers of the commission bureaucracy and the council of ministers the assembly would remain basically an advisory body the curbing of c.a.p is indicative of their approach in favour of the majority consumer interest in manufacturing countries and against the minority irish farming interest if the s.e.a goes through the much vaunted veto which we were told would protect small countries will be replaced in certain cases by qualified majority voting e.g 54 out of 76 in the council out of which the 26 counties would have only three votes in the assembly all ireland has 18 members out of 560 in the westminster parliament after the union of 1801 ireland had 100 out of 600 in such circumstances the proposed transfer of control over the irish banking system to the e.e.c can readily be appreciated by farmers and industrial interests alike the outflow of capital from ireland ceili dinnear republican testimonial west county hotel dublin saturday june 13 1987 8pm to lam dinner 9 pm sharp taille 10.50 bodenstown sunday june 14 solidarity message a telegram of support was sent to the irish ad hoc committee in the u.s.a on the occasion of their participation in the massive demonstration in washington on saturday april 25 the demonstrators 100,000 strong marched for peace and justice in central america and southern africa and in opposition to u.s policy in these areas along with the irish committee trade unions religious groups teachers students and peace groups paraded from the white house to capitol hill the text of the telegram read republican sinn fein ireland expresses solidarity with the oppressed peoples of central america and southern africa good luck on april 25th this first issue of saoirse-irish freedom incorporates republican bulletin-iris na pobiachta which was published between november 1986 and april 1987 joe o'neill cisteoir ndisiunta draws the 2,000 ticket in the national draw results page 8 would become a flood and force up interest rates to a disastrous level the promises of 1972 and 1975 have not been delivered on and now a further immersion is proposed which will undoubtedly do increased damage to agriculture industry and especially the ordinary working people is it necessary to point out that unemployment stood at 74,779 in the 26 counties in 1972 and that it is now 250,710 that the number employed in industry has fallen by 21,000 in that period despite billions of pounds spent on grants and other incentives on the second part of the s.e.a called title iii which deals with foreign policy security and defence what is intended is clear to page 7 comhairle na mumhan officers elected at a meeting to establish comhairle na mumhan in limerick on sunday may 3 are cathaoirleach : tom sullivan south tipp . ) runai alfie mcavoy cork cisteoir john ryan north tipp leas-chathaoir leach & p.r.o mick hegarty clare education & organiser des long limerick paddy mulcahy limerick and gearoid mac carthaigh cork were made honorary life presidents of the comhairle